Drugs and pipes and scales in your car? Oh my!

Ok – I didn’t plan for this to happen again. I was going to blog every other day, or maybe three times a week. I would write about the stuff that people ask me, but then there was work. Phone calls clog my day because I violate the main rule of running my own practice, I keep answering that phone.

"Hey – can you help me? Can I get a consultation on my case? My public defender won’t answer his phone so I don’t know what’s happening…."

Rule number one for lawyers in private practice is to get the potential client in the office. Do not give away information! Get them in and then convert them to clients. Paying clients!

But the truth is that most of the time I cannot help myself. I want to take the call and hear about the problem facing the person on the other end of the phone.

So if you look at the number of posts since October, you will see that there were more twisters in Minnesota than posts on my blog.

But I am back on top, at least for tonight!

So here was today’s top question: if the cops stopped me but without a warrant, can they use the evidence they seized from my car?

Like, what evidence?

A bong, some marijuana and a scale. And they said I was driving under the influence, but I was not.

Answer: As the Supreme Court said so long ago, "cars are different." Mobility makes a "search" somewhat more easily reasonable for a moving object than say – a garage. If your car was searched, perhaps by a police dog that alerted for the presence of contraband, there will likely be an exception to the warrant requirement. That will likely make the evidence found in the car admissible. All of which may make it more likely that you will face a potential problem if charged with possession or perhaps, driving under the influence.

Bottom line here – go see a lawyer. A criminal defense lawyer. And hope that you get one who can help you through the mud of the system.

About

I am Boise, Idaho criminal defense and DUI attorney Chuck Peterson, and for over thirty years I have been a practicing trial lawyer. I focus on providing the best defense possible to my clients facing criminal charges, and trying the...